FBI SWAT teams are one of the most highly trained infiltration / exfiltration units in the world. Highly skilled, highly trained. Practice frequently. They are armed with the best gear in the world, bristling with guns, ammo, handcuffs, flash-bang grenades. In their center pocket, easiest and fastest to reach, is their most important tool. A …
Author Archives: theAgileCouch
“Feature” is Ambiguous.
We’ve used the word feature to the point that it’s lost specific meaning. A feature could mean, “this field will retain your data for the next time you log in”. A feature could also mean “big green button”. A feature could also be almost any object or landmark. That big rock that looks like a …
How Not to Get Lost
My friend and UX designer (and legendary keyboard warrior) Evan Travers writes about orienteering, something you may have done as a scout. Abstractly, two techniques to navigate in the territory of the modern software domain – Moderate Complexity and Moderate Uncertainty. While finding an exact destination requires many steps and many skills, here are two …
A challenging statement. Kanban is failure.
Just heard this quote on a webinar today about Lean and Theory of Constraints. I found it fascinating and challenging. Tell me your thoughts in the comments: “Kanban is an admission of failure to achieve one-piece flow”
The Mechanics of Flow: You don’t have to be the fastest to beat the fastest.
In the past year I watched the Amazon series Patriot. From a plot perspective, the show is about an American agent who takes on a “non-official cover” with a pipe company to prevent a nuclear threat. At a deeper level, the show is about the complications of flow, mentioned several times as the simplicity of …
Continue reading “The Mechanics of Flow: You don’t have to be the fastest to beat the fastest.”
The iceberg in the glass: Two views of Agile, and what they say about your team.
If a team’s initial response to Scrum is that it’s restrictive, prescriptive, and high-overhead, consider this the tip of the iceberg floating above the water.
Counter-pitching freelance gigs as Agile engagements
A recent discussion in one of my tech forums turned to a question of how to price yourself when you’ve been approached about freelance development gigs. Much good information was shared on topics including new developers getting their first paying gig, race and minority status in the job market, the temptations that lead to undervaluing …
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On Good Coworkers & Business Humility
“What makes a good coworker in tech? What makes a bad one?” I saw these two questions posted in a coding forum today as part of JC Smiley’s daily questions, which he then reposts with the answers to his LinkedIn feed. If you’re getting started in development, you should follow him. “What traits or actions …
A Root Cause Retrospective
My goal with this Retrospective is a format allowing teams to break down a few specific issues into constituent parts, look for themes in root cause analysis, and take actions to prevent the recurrence of those factors. Some specific choices about the Retrospective, and why I made these choices: A. This Retrospective serves as an …
Expressing Pain
One theme on my mind right now is the proper expression and treatment of “Pain” as a core part of Scrum Agile working as intended. Schwaber and Sutherland said they promise one thing only from Scrum, everything else is a nice side benefit. Scrum will show you all of your problems. In order for that …
